Search

Just think, you’re here not by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else – you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

If I were to ask you if you were happy with your life, most of you would answer yes. However, if I were to ask what you would most change in your life to make you happier or make life easier, most of you would realize you are not as happy as you think.

Our life consists of one decision on top of another and in retrospect there is probably many things we could do better if we just took the time to think before we made our choices. We are the sum total of choices we made throughout our life and whether we want to admit it or not, we all have made more than a few bad decisions. Most of them have taught us lessons and helped turn us back to the right path, however some remain hidden in the closet hoping never to see the light of day again.

How we perceive ourselves and how people perceive us usually turn out to be two different people. Sometimes in life we need to look into a mirror and take an honest look at ourselves, then realize we just may have to make some changes to become the person we really want to be.

Ok, I hear some of you saying there is nothing in my life that I would change. That is your ego standing up and denying your misgivings for you. Don’t let your expanded ego control who you really want to be. Humble yourself and admit you made some bad choices you wish you could turn around.

So, I ask you, if you could change one thing in your life to be happy what would you change and why?

If I could have one wish for Christmas it would be peace. NOT peace on earth as I believe that will never happen because of free will. Since everyone has their own idea as to what peace would look like, I think I will offer my opinion.

I have never talked much about my experience in Vietnam, mainly because it offers an insight of human behavior that for the most part is anger and lack of compassion for human life. I was part of an elite unit of the Marines called Force Recon assigned to a unit from Air America, also known as the CIA. My MOS was Scout/Sniper in which I was assigned targets to which my job was to render harmless. I was very good at my job, maybe a bit too good. This was mainly because of anger towards the Vietcong because they showed no compassion when taking American life’s. However, it left it’s mark on me that I live with to this day. There are still days where I think we did more harm than good.

When I came home from Vietnam, I was a broken person, full of anger and had no compassion for anyone. It took years, working everyday with medical professionals to overcome my anger and addictions. To become human again rather than being the animal I was almost became a miracle. I was lucky to have a strong family to support me along with a great company to provide for the medical treatment needed. Through the grace of God I was able to overcome my anger and learn compassion for people again. However, I still have the nightmares and sweats from the past.

It distressed me when I see or hear people profess an attitude of no compassion, for I learned that not everyone has had the blessings of a great education as I have and that everyone makes mistakes in their life, as much as they would like to deny it.

Life is not a bed of roses and most people learn from their mistakes, some don’t. Whether its from ignorance or from just giving up they just can’t seem to find the right path. I pray for their understanding and comfort as they strive to find the guidance they need. I also pray for people to find compassion and understanding to help guide others to reach their path.

So I ask for peace, knowing that it is somewhat a loose term. Peace is a settling of the mind with the knowledge that I can help others as God has helped me. Peace is being able to live with the past and look forward to tomorrow. Peace is love for your fellow man in spite of your differences. Life is short, don’t waste it on self centered thoughts or ego.

May you all have Peace in your life and Love in your heart. This is my wish for Christmas.

If you’ve been reading my posts, then you know I’ve attended a AYOP school until I turned 8, and then spent the next 4 years learning from my Grandfather. You would know I read the Bible four times by the time I turned 12 and many more times since. I have a very diverse education.

Grandfather instilled in me the importance of the Bible in our everyday life and how we should live the Bible in everything we do. Does that make me an expert on the Bible? No, but I do know where to go for answers and I do know if someone twists the meaning of whats written to make a point in a Sunday sermon.

I grew up with the Bible and learned it is a great reference tool for life. It contains the basic rules for living, teaches us the importance of love and instills in us the richness we are blessed with in our daily life’s. Over my life I have taught Sunday School and led many Bible study classes. Many times I came home wondering just why some people just never get it.

I’ve learned, over time, that we must listen twice as much as we talk and just how important it is to give someone else a chance to share a thought. Grandfather once said “It is better to keep our mouth shut and thought to be stupid rather than open it up and prove it.” I always wondered what he meant until I realized what he was really saying was if you have to tell everyone how good or smart you are, you really aren’t. Let your actions and works show for you.

Some people have the gift for gab and can do a wonderful job with it. I don’t, but I learned early on that the ones who go around boasting about their life are usually insecure and need the attention their story gives them.

I’ve met many people who strive to live their life as Jesus had and are constantly bummed out because of all the obstacles God has placed in their path. What would Jesus do has become their phrase of the day. The Bible tells us to love our neighbors as He has loved us and many time we fall very short of this command because we choose who we consider our neighbors. I have found you can’t just love one person for one thing and dislike another for the same thing.

I have learned that everyone has challenges that they must overcome and you can’t judge a person because of his or her circumstances. We all must learn to accept people because of their differences and realize not everyone is going to think and act the same way we do. Diversity has made us as advanced as we are and diversity will help us continue to improve.

We all need to take a good, honest look at ourselves to see where our prejudices lie. To many times we judge others on how they look or speak and don’t realize we are being judged for the same reasons. Learn to love each other for who they are not who you want them to be.

The Bible lays out very clearly how we should live our life and how we should love each other. Its the basic foundation of life and the guide to a better life for all. God gave us so much to live for and asks so little in return. Don’t you think it’s time to start living as He asks us to? Make the best of your lives and help others grow in theirs.

If you have been reading my posts, you also know there is more there than what is written on the page. Take the time to read between the lines of my posts for there are lessons there also.

Does that statement give you pause? I wonder because for years I have heard comments from people that they only have so much love to share and it is not to be wasted.

For myself, I don’t think you can waste love for it creates many returns. When you share your love with others, it raises their spirits and creates love back to you. Grandfather was correct when he said love isn’t love until you give it away.

Love is meant to be shared and it should be shared with everyone whose path you cross everyday of your life. I believe the world would be is much better shape if we all shared our love with everyone.

So how does one come to realize the truth in this statement? I guess we should start with your definition of love along with your definition of compassion. I say your definition because I have found peeple have different views of what each of these words mean.

Love

Love is a variety of different emotional and mental states, typically strongly and positively experienced, that ranges from deepest interpersonal affection to simple pleasure.

This is a generic definition of love that most would agree with.

Compassion

Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help the physical, mental or emotional pains of another and themselves.

Again a generic definition that most will agree with.

Ok, we all agree that these pretty much define love and compassion for us, but what did Jesus say we should do? He said to love our neighbors as He has loved us. To me that means we should all love each other as we love ourselves and to open our hearts to the needs of each other.

That therefore brings us to the opening statement. Love is not a finite emotion, we have enough to share with everyone and the more we share, the more our hearts give us to share!

We must be willing to give up the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

Pretty simple statement until you realize the life you have and the life you want are two different worlds. We, as humans, tend to shackle ourselves to the hurts and prejudices of the past and just can’t seem to let them go. For some reason we would rather carry the burden of hurt instead of forgiving and forgetting.

I can’t tell you many times I’ve heard someone say I’m just a work in progress and just can’t seem to be able to forgive. Believe it, we are all a work in progress and we will be the rest of our life. But, also understand just how much we control our life and our happiness.

It is the decisions we make in life and how we handle the rough times that form our character. As grandfather always said everything in life happens for a reason and pur job is to use it as a lesson in how we need to grow.

How do we do that? When we begin to look at everything as a life lesson, we learn to make the best out of them. This is character building and also it teaches us that we choose the path to happiness. Free will as I mentioned many times allows us to determine the path we take in life. Choosing to find the positive in the life challenges we face everyday helps us share the love God has blessed us with.

Love…. grandfather told me many times – No matter what you say or do, love isn’t love until you give it away. This is the very reason we must forgive our transgressors and lift the burden from our hearts.

One final note: Life is 10 percent luck and 90 percent attitude. There is no reason to shackle ourselves with negativity when we can bless other as well as ourselves with love.

For days I have listened to and read from people who have given their opinions on whether one should stand for our National Anthem. I find it astonishing the wide variety of opinions and the hate being pushed with them. In my opinion, there is no room for hate.

As a combat veteran, let me share my position on it. I spent 29 years in Government service defending your rights and the United States Constitution most of you take for granted. When you realize only about 10 percent of the people ever join the military and out of that 10 percent only about 10 percent of them ever see combat, you just may remember what little you do to protect or preserve this great country.

As a veteran, I stand for my Country, as messed up as it is, and I defend your individual rights to stand or not. But I also ask that you, rather than blast out at someone who doesn’t feel the same as you so, to pray for understanding and compassion for the reason he or she is doing what they see as fit and proper.

Our Country is divided over many things and it appears no one is willing to step up to help close the divide. Well, that is your Constitutional right, but I feel if you aren’t part of the solution then you are part of the problem. That sounds harsh, but think of this, we all are American and until we unite and close this divide all that is going on will just get worse. There is no winner here, we all lose when we can’t stand together.

Life is what you are willing to put into it and the same goes for our Country, so my suggestion, for what it is worth, is to stop complaining and step out to help pull this great divide together. Believe me, it will take all of us working together to get it done.